Bankruptcy debtors should not reaffirm a mortgage. Reaffirmation of debt in bankruptcy prevents the debt from being discharged, a process explained in greater detail by Kevin Gipson in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and the Reaffirmation Agreement. Yet, lawyers continue to debate whether to reaffirm a mortgage, without compelling argument on the affirmative side, even though state [...]
mortgage
We have bailed out the mortgage companies that brought us the foreclosure crisis, now the states and a federal government agencies are on the verge of a sellout buyout by the bad guys for fraudulent foreclosures. The Office of Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, and the attorney generals for all 50 states are participating [...]
(picture from University of Pennsylvania blog on regulations) The most common question I get for a long time is what happens if I do not, or cannot, pay my mortgage? If you can afford to continue paying, and are current, there is really no bankruptcy alternative. The so-called “strategic default” option is to simply stop [...]
HAMP, the Home Affordable Modification Program which can modify a mortgage, is no way to avoid bankruptcy. It’s a heart-breaker. It builds up false hopes and then destroys them. That’s my conclusion from reading the new Congressional Oversight Panel report. I haven’t written on HAMP because I’ve questioned its relevance to bankruptcy, but a number of clients [...]
Reaffirming is the only way to remain liable on a debt that is otherwise dischargeable in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. At least in Michigan, signing a reaffirmation agreement is never a good idea, unless the bank is changing the terms to your advantage. If you keep up the taxes and insurance, and make the payments, [...]
Proprietary mortgage modifications, not HAMP mortgage modifications, lead the way according to HOPE NOW Loan Mod statistics. 120,000 modifications have been done by the mortgage companies themselves, compared to only 27,840 HAMP mortgage modifications, compared to HAMP has been, and remains, a gigantic government failure. It was supposed to lower the foreclosure rate. There are [...]
